Zanthan Gardens
Weblog of a Central Austin Garden

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

July 15, 2010

Although Austin’s heat index hit triple digit temperatures this week, our actual highs have remained in the 90s. The humidity is smothering. Being in the garden is miserable, even at dawn. If the humidity doesn’t drive me indoors, the mosquitoes do. However, looking at the garden from inside an air-conditioned house, I’m astonished at how green it still is, how lovely it appears from a distance.

I find it interesting to look back at previous years’ GBBD posts. Last July as we kept racking up our triple digit days on the way to 68 (not quite breaking the 1925 record of 69), I couldn’t bring myself to face the garden or to inventory my disappointment. Of course, now I wish I’d made the effort just to see what could bloom in a summer like last year’s. (And yes, a voice in my head told me as much at the time but for once the heart won out.) In July 2008 we were still at the beginning of the drought, suffering but still believing that fall rains would bring relief. The summer of 2007, however, was very similar to this summer.

The rain has encouraged the roses to bloom. All, except ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’*, have bloomed this month. ‘Red Cascade’ has been the real surprise. It sat there for years doing nothing and this year it’s hasn’t stopped blooming. It wants to be a ground rose though. Long canes snake out hugging the ground. They aren’t happy when I try to tie them up to the fence. The small fig tree I planted last year has doubled in size.

In the losses column another surprise: the gingko tree. It’s never been particularly vibrant but it held on through drought and freeze. It attempted to leaf out this spring, put out a few wan leaves, and then gave up. The rain also killed off my new sotol plant (planted in well draining soil amended with decomposed granite) and my thyme (potted in a deep herb pot).

Rain or drought certain flowers are dependable July bloomers at Zanthan Gardens: Antigonon leptopus, Hibiscus syriacus, Lagerstroemia indica, and Malvaviscus arboreus. Carefree self-sown flowers are Polanisia dodecandra, Ruellia (various), and Rudbeckia hirta. Perversely, given that I always have them, I don’t really want more of them. What I really want this year a Pride of Barbados. I’m almost content to enjoy my neighbor’s as I sit looking out the window from my desk. I could plant my own but when our low temperatures barely drop out of the 80s at night, I’m not highly motivated to work in the garden.

Noticeably absent from the list of dependable summer bloomers are the duranta and the plumbago. Neither has recovered yet from the Great Freeze of January 2010. The oleander is also slowing making its way back and has managed to put out a couple of flowers. I used to it being a huge wall of champagne-colored flowers.

New for July

I’ve tried growing crocosmia several times. This is my first success thanks to passalong plants from AnnieinAustin. They just began blooming yesterday.

2010-07-15. Crocosmia. (Technically this won’t bloom until tomorrow.)

I first noticed the pigeonberry in Eleanor’s Garden of E on the 2009 Master Gardener’s tour. I liked it so much I bought a 4-inch pot of one on the spot. It died back to its roots during the January 2010 freeze and has remained quite small. It began blooming July 10th.

2010-07-15. Pigeonberry (Rivina humilis).

When I bought a Mexican buckeye tree a few years back, there were second small plant in the container. I planted it and it’s stayed about a foot tall, smothered under weeds. In late spring when I was cleaning up around the raspberries, I uncovered it. It appreciated either the attention or the rain and has tripled in size in a couple of months. Today I noticed it was flowering, something it’s supposed to do in early spring.

2010-07-15. Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa).

Between GBBDs

Several flower bloomed and faded in my garden between GBBDs and so didn’t show up in the inventory for either June or July. Rainlilies: Zephyranthes grandiflora, Zephyranthes ‘Labuffarosea’ (another passalong from @AnnieinAustin), and the two different white ones. The Crinum bulbispermum rebloomed after the rain.

Update

* 2010-07-18. ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ produced one flower. That means every rose has produced at least one flower in July 2010…not all at the same time.

Complete List for July 2010

This is the list of all plants flowering today, July 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens. I’ve also noted if the plant was blooming on GBBD July 15th, 2007 or 2008. I have no notes for July 2009.

• Abelia grandiflora (2007, 2010)
• Antigonon leptopus (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Antirrhinum majus (2010)
• Aristolochia fimbriata (2010)
• Asparagus densiflorus (2010)
• Commelina communis/erecta (2007, 2010)
• Crocosmia (2010)
• Datura inoxia (2010)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2008, 2010)
• Helianthus annuus (2010)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2008, 2010)
• Hibiscus syriacus (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Lagerstroemia indica‘Catawba’ (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Lantana ‘New Gold’ (2007, 2010)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Mondo grass (2007, 2010)
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2010)
• Oenothera speciosa (2007, 2010)
• Origanum vulgare (2010)
• Oxalis triangularis (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Parkinsonia aculeata (2010)
• Pavonia hastata (2010)
• Rivina humilis (2010)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2007, 2008, 2010)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette‘ (2007, 2010)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (2010)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2010)
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2010)
• rosemary (2007, 2010)
• Rudbeckia hirta (2007, 2010)
• Ruellia (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Setcresea (both purple and green) (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba ‘Golden Fleece’ (2010)
• Ungnadia speciosa (2010)
• Verbena canadensis (2007, 2010)
• waterlily ‘Helvola’ (2008, 2010)
• Zexmenia hispida (2010)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

June 15, 2010

Austin is in the glory of first summer now and its colors are like the chorus of that Pete Seeger ditty, Henry My Son, green and yeller. May, typically one of Austin’s wettest months, was unusually dry in 2010. However, June has made up for it with big storms bringing 2 inches of rain (June 2) and 4 inches of rain (June 9) to Zanthan Gardens. As a result, lot of fading spring flowers, like bluebonnets, larkspur, false dayflowers, nigella, and Confederate jasmine put out a few more flowers. And several of the roses are producing a second flush: ‘Blush Noisette’, ‘New Dawn’, and ‘Ducher’. ‘Red Cascade’ continues to have a few flowers from its first flush.

Fading bluebonnet. Two new flowers opened today but all the flowers are very pale in the heat.

New for June

My old faithfuls for first summer are in full flower: Rudbeckia hirta, Hibiscus syriacus, Antigonon leptopus, various Ruellia, and Polanisia dodecandra.

All over town Austin’s ubiquitous summer flower, the crape myrtle, is laden with bloom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen with such huge flowers before–just like our spring wildflowers. I credit the incredible rain from September to April. The lesson I’m learning is that while these flowers may tolerate our heat and drought, they really love twice the water we normally give them.

Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba.’

2010 was also the best year ever for my vitex (now fading). I have so much shade in my garden that both the crape myrtle and the vitex are pretty subdued compared to what you’ll see elsewhere in Austin

I’m still waiting for the oleander, duranto, and plumbago to flower. They are struggling back from their roots after Austin’s unusual big freeze in January 2010. I’m happily finding all sorts of plants I thought had died in the freeze springing back–the biggest surprise was new growth on the bottlebrush bush. And although I wasn’t surprised to discover a lot of self sown datura, I was to see new growth springing from the stump of one of last year’s plants.

I’ve had such good luck with the scraggly annual black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) that I thought I’d give the more impressive Rudbeckia maxima a try.

Rudbeckia maxima.

Between GBBDs

Several flower bloomed and faded in my garden between GBBDs and so didn’t show up in the inventory for either May or June: Gladiolus ‘Flevo Bambino’, globe artichoke, Opuntia ficus-indica, and Callirhoe involucrata.

Complete List for June

This is the list of all plants flowering today, June 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens.

• Abelia grandiflora (2010)
• Antigonon leptopus (2010)
• Antirrhinum majus (2010)
• Aristolochia fimbriata (2010)
• Asparagus densiflorus (2010)
• Chilopsis linearis (2010)
• Commelina communis (2010)
• Commelinantia anomala (2010)
• Consolida ambigua (2010)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2010)
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’ (2010)
• garlic (2010)
• Helianthus annuus (2010)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2010)
• Hibiscus syriacus (full bloom) (2010)
• Lantana ‘New Gold’ (2010)
• Lavandula heterophyla ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ (2010)
• Lupinus texensis (a couple of fading flowers) (2010)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2010)
• Mondo grass (2010)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2010)
• Nigella damascena (fading singles and doubles) (2010)
• Oenothera speciosa (2010)
• Origanum vulgare (2010)
• Oxalis triangularis (2010)
• Parkinsonia aculeata (2010)
• Pavonia hastata (2010)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2010)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2010)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (2010)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2010)
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2010)
• rosemary (2010)
• Rudbeckia hirta (2010)
• Rudbeckia maxima (2010)
• Ruellia (2010)
• Sedum album (2010)
• Setcresea (both purple and green) (2010)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba ‘Golden Fleece’ (2010)
• tomato (2010)
• Trachelospermum jasminoides (almost finished) (2010)
• Verbena canadensis (lavender wilding) (2010)
• Vitex agnus-castus (2010)
• waterlily ‘Helvola’ (2010)
• Zexmenia hispida (2010)
• unidentified white-flower (2010)

Unidentified white flower.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

May 15, 2010

Spring wanes and May ushers in the early summer flowers as well as early summer temperatures which soared into the 90s a few times. Although we’ve had little rain until last night’s downpour of more than 2 inches, cloud cover has kept temperatures in the 80s. Unfortunately it’s also kept the humidity very high so May has made gardening uncomfortably sticky work.

The height of the flowering season at Zanthan Gardens is over. About half of what was flowering in April GBBD is gone but there are almost as many new flowers. The palette morphs from blues and purples into yellows, oranges and reds.The bluebonnets have completely gone to seed. The poppies and nigella last only a couple of weeks, a very short bloom season given that their growing season is almost as long as the bluebonnets and larkspur.

The big difference this year compared to earlier years is that some flowering bushes and small trees that usually flower dependably in May (such as duranta and oleander) were frozen to the ground in our uncharacteristic January freeze. They are alive but they haven’t started flowering yet.

Between GBBDs

A couple of flower bloomed and faded in my garden between GBBDs and so didn’t show up in the inventory for either April or May.

• Amaryllis ‘Black Pearl’.
• Lonicera japonica
• Louisiana iris ‘Full Eclipse’
• raspberries

Complete List for May

This is the list of all plants flowering today, May 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens. I’ve also noted if the plant was blooming this month in previous GBBD years, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

• Abelia grandiflora (2009, 2010)
• Antirrhinum majus (2010)
• Aristolochia fimbriata (2010)
• Commelinantia anomala (a few flowers revived by rain) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Consolida ambigua (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Crinum bulbispermum (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’ (2008, 2009, 2010)
• garlic (2010)
• Gaura lindheimeri(2010)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Hibiscus syriacus (full bloom) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Lavandula heterophyla ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Lilium longiflorum, Easter lily (2010)
• Lupinus texensis (a couple of fading flowers) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Mirabilis jalapa pink (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Nandina domestica (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2009, 2010)
• Nigella damascena (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Oenothera speciosa (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oxalis triangularis (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Papaver rhoeas ‘Angel’s Choir’ (2010)
• Papaver somniferum (a couple of fading flowers) ‘Lauren’s Grape'(2010)
• Parkinsonia aculeata (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Phlomis lanata (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Portulaca grandiflora (2010)
• Pyrrhopappus multicaulis (2007, 2010)
• rose ‘Mermaid'(2007, 2010)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Rudbeckia hirta (2008, 2010)
• Sedum album (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Setcresea (both purple and green) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba ‘Golden Fleece’ (2009, 2010)
• tomato (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Trachelospermum jasminoides (starting to fade) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Verbena canadensis (lavender wilding) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Viola cornuta (one selfsown plant) (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Zexmenia hispida (2007, 2008, 2010)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

April 15, 2010

Carol dreams of May but April is when it’s happening at Zanthan Gardens. More plants come into bloom and more plants are in bloom than any other month of the year. And this year more than any other my garden is just a mess of color with no apparent design at all. The feral cats apparently find it quite frustrating. They make their own paths through the flowers and sit right in the middle of particularly large bluebonnet plants.

Two thugs, cilantro and Engelmann daisy, fight it out for control in the meadow. Most of the larkspur is in the front yard this year.

April is the month that Zanthan Gardens makes the transition from blue and white to a full spectrum of color. This year because of all the rain, it was even more blue and white than usual. The cilantro has taken over everywhere and the bluebonnets are large and numerous. In most years the bluebonnets have already begun to fade by now. With this year’s cooler, wetter weather, they’re holding on to their flowers longer.

2010 is a banner year for bluebonnets. They are just beginning to go to seed as the pink evening primrose comes into view. False dayflowers peak through the fence with their funny little faces.

New for April

• Allium neapolitanum
• amaryllis ‘Amoretta’
• amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’
• Antirrhinum majus
• Diospyros kaki ‘Eureka’ (Japanese persimmon)
• Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’
• Hippeastrum x johnsonii
• Iris flavescens (?) yellow heirloom
• iris ‘Incantation’
• Meyer lemon
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’
• Nigella damascena
• Oenothera speciosa
• Papaver somniferum “Dorothy Cavanaugh”
• Phlomis lanata
• Pisum sativum ‘Progress #9’
• Pyrrhopappus multicaulis
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’
• rose ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’
• rose ‘Prosperity’
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’
• Solanum jasminoides
• Spiraea bridal wreath
• Thymophylla tenuiloba (Dahlberg daisy)
• tomatoes (all)
• Verbena canadensis
• Vicia sativa (common vetch)
• viola (self-sown)
• yaupon holly

The love-in-the-mist will fill in when the cilantro fades.

Pink evening primrose is considered a thug in other people’s gardens but it is very prim compared to my real thugs.

Bearded iris ‘Incantation’ among the flowering cilantro.

Yellow heirloom irises and white ‘Ducher’ rose in a field of cilantro and poppies.

I had high hopes that these would be Lauren’s Grape but they are the pale salmon “Dorothy Cavanaugh”. Salmon is the gardener’s name for “orange”. They don’t look very orange in this picture but they do in real life especially compared to the cherry red peony poppies behind them.

The artichoke is about to flower. The bluebonnets are giving way to the larkspur. I replaced the entire front yard with larkspur which I can see from my desk.

Some people call these bicolor larkspur “bunny ears”. See the little white bunny face?

2010 has been a great spring for roses in Austin, too. Last Sunday @good_n_evil had us Austin garden bloggers over to look at her roses. Her garden is certainly inspiration to me to work a little harder. In fact you might as well just head on over there virtually and gawk. There’s nothing left to this post but lists.

Rose ‘Prosperity’ is the only rose still struggling to recover from the drought.

Between GBBDs

Several flower bloomed and faded in my garden between GBBDs and so didn’t show up in the inventory for either March or April.

• Hyacinthoides hispanica
• Narcissus triandrus ‘Hawera’
• Prunus caroliniana
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (A couple of flowers early in the month but none today. Gearing up for a big show in about two weeks.)
• Tulipa clusiana
• Ungnadia speciosa

Complete List for April

The list of all plants flowering today, April 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens. In 2010, 45 different plants are flowering which is about the same as 2007 (41) and 2008 (43). However, it’s much lower than 2009 (70). Many plants flowered straight through the 2008/9 winter because it did not freeze here.

• Allium neapolitanum (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• amaryllis ‘Amoretta’ (2010)
• amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’ (2010)
• Antirrhinum majus (2010)
• Commelinantia anomala (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Consolida ambigua (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Coriandrum sativum (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Diospyros kaki ‘Eureka’ (Japanese persimmon) (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Diospyros texana (2010)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’ (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Hippeastrum x johnsonii (St. Joseph’s lily) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Iris flavescens (?) yellow heirloom (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• iris ‘Incantation’ (2010)
• Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Mother of Thousands) In pot this year. (2009, 2010)
• Lobularia maritima (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Lupinus texensis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Meyer lemon (2010)
• Nemophila insignis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2009, 2010)
• Nigella damascena (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oenothera speciosa (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oxalis crassipis (hot pink) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oxalis stricta (yellow flowering weed) (2010)
• Oxalis triangularis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Papaver somniferum “Dorothy Cavanaugh” (2010)
• Phlomis lanata (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Pisum sativum ‘Progress #9’ (2010)
• Pisum sativum ‘Wando’ (2010)
• Pyrrhopappus multicaulis (2010)
• Rhaphiolepis indica (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette‘ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (waning) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Madame Alfred Carriere‘ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Prosperity’ (full bloom) (2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Solanum jasminoides (potato vine) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Spiraea bridal wreath (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba ‘Golden Fleece’ (Dahlberg daisy) (2009, 2010)
• tomatoes (all) (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Tradescantia (spiderwort) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Verbena canadensis (lavender wilding) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Vicia sativa (common vetch) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Viola cornuta (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• yaupon holly (2007, 2009, 2010)

And just for the record, these are the 45 plants which were blooming on April 15th in previous years that aren’t flowering today. Or should this be on a separate non-bloom day post? Some of them are dead and gone. Some of them froze to the ground this year but are slowly making a comeback.

• Aloe barbadensis (2008, 2009)
• Asclepias curassavica (overwintered) (2009)
• Asparagus densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’ (2008, 2009)
• Brugmansia (from Annie in Austin) (2009)
• Centaurea cyanus ‘Black Magic’ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Crinum bulbispermum (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Datura (from Diana which overwintered) (2009)
• Duranta erecta (overwintered) (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Eupatorium wrightii (from Pam) (2009)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2008, 2009)
• iris bearded ‘Strictly Ballroom (2009)
• Iris x fulvala ‘Full Eclipse’ (2009)
• jalapeno (2009)
• Lantana montevidensis (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Lantana x hybrida ‘New Gold’ (2008, 2009)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Knee-Hi Mix’ (2009)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Perfume Delight’ (2008)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Regal Robe’ (2007)
• Lavandula heterophyla ‘Goodwin Creek Grey‘ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Lavandula stoechas (2009)
• Lonicera japonica (2009)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
• Mirabilis jalapa (2008, 2009)
• Narcissus jonquilla ‘Quail’ 2007
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2008, 2009)
• Orchid (from Dawn) (2009)
• Oxalis pes-caprae ‘Scotty’s Surprise’ (fading) (2008, 2009)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Retama (2008, 2009)
• rose white Lady Banksia (my neighbor’s but droops over the fence) (2009)
• rose ‘French Lace’ (2007, 2009)
• rose ‘Heritage‘ 2007
• rose ‘Mermaid’ (2009)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• rose ‘Penelope‘ 2007
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (two small flowers) 2008
• ruellia (overwintered) (2009)
• Salvia farinacea ‘Indigo spires’ 2007
• Salvia greggii ‘Raspberry’ 2007
• Sedum album (2008, 2009)
• Setcreasea pallida (2008, 2009)
• tomatillo (2009)
• Trachelospermum jasminoides (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Tradescantia pallida (purple heart) 2007
• Zexmenia hispida (from Pam) (2009)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

March 2010

The redbuds are Austin’s harbinger of spring but in 2010 it seemed they would never bloom. More than three weeks later than normal, on March 6th, I started seeing redbuds around town. After that, Spring cut loose. It was as if the other flowers had to wait for the diva to take center stage before making an entrance. Tazetta daffodils that are usually in flower in January bloomed alongside jonquils and large-flowering daffodils. The larkspur, which typically blooms a month after the bluebonnets, began blooming almost a week before.

Despite the devastations of record drought and freezes, the garden springs back.

Between GBBDs

Two stems of ‘Ice Follies’ daffodils came back after a couple of years of not blooming. I thought I’d lost them for good. I had divided them over the year and at one time had 8 groups.

Complete List for March 15, 2010

The list of all plants flowering today, March 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens. This is the fourth March I’ve participated in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Compare: March 2007, March 2008 (most floriferous), March 2009 (18 months into the drought).

• Commelinantia anomala
• Consolida ambigua
• Coriandrum sativum
• henbit
• Iris (unnamed blue)
• Iris albicans
• Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Mother of Thousands) in pot
• Leucojum aestivum
• Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’
• Lobularia maritima (white)
• Lupinus texensis (including a pink opening today)
• Muscari neglectum/racemosum
• Narcissus jonquilla ‘Trevithian’
• Narcissus tazetta ‘Grand Monarque’
• Narcissus tazetta ‘Grandiflora’
• Nemophila insignis
• Nothoscordum bivalve
• Pisum sativum ‘Progress #9’
• Pisum sativum ‘Wando’
• Prunus mexicana (big tree finished, 2 small trees at height)
• Rhaphiolepis indica
• Rose ‘Ducher’
• rosemary
• Sophora secundiflora
• Tradescantia

November 15, 2009

This last month has been one of the most beautiful in memory, its perfection lulling us into a glowing sense of “God! Isn’t it wonderful to live here in central Texas.” Rain. Rain. Rain. And then a month of dew-kissed mornings when we never got the hose out once and only watered seedlings and new transplants with the bounty in our rain barrels.

The overwintering annuals have filled in making it look more like March than November. The false dayflower is already flowering.

Commelinantia anomala. The common solid blue false day flower has an endearing face, too.

Henbit, chickweed, and dandelions–the early winter weeds (or tonic herbs depending on your point of view)–are also getting a head start on sprouting and blooming. It’s odd to think that our first freeze is due within three weeks when the whole garden is insisting we’re already into spring.

Another March flowerer, cilantro, is about to bolt. I hope this counts as a bonus fall crop and that we get a second crop in spring. Even the spring-flowering Jerusalem sage threw out a few flowers on one bush.

The fall flowers, brilliant with fall yellows and oranges, are in full bloom. With the flowers, the butterflies returned.

Asclepias curassavica.

As did swarms of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes love to be in the garden in the late afternoon at the same time I otherwise find it most pleasant to work. Very discouraging. The garden is buzzing with bees, too. They especially like the coral vine, the basil, and the orange cosmos. The cosmos is in full bloom right now. Unfortunately it is a uniform orange, unlike previous years. It and the pink Port St. John’s Creeper account for almost all the color in the back yard.

Cosmos sulphureus.

All month the roses have been in full bloom. The ‘New Dawn’ rose by the front fence has flowered more and longer than ever before. So has ‘Red Cascade’ which looks like it has finally decided to do something (take over the world?) after years of lying sleepily along the ground. In the back yard, ‘Ducher’ collapsed under its own weight and then sent out a lot of additional new growth from the bent canes. In short, it pegged itself.

Rose ‘Ducher’. Linen white and lemon scented.

Rose ‘Red Cascade’. Tiny flowers on rambling rose that wants to be a groundcover.

Rose ‘Prosperty’. From bud, to faded flower on stem…like a timelapse photo of itself.

Rose ‘Blush Noisette’.

‘Mermaid’ has been blooming this last month, just not today. Only ‘Souvenir del Malmaison’ and ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’, which are still in the shade of a red oak, have not flowered.

The vines have set out to smother the yard, especially the kudzu-like Port St. John’s creeper which is following the coral vine’s leap into the trees. The cypress vine has grown into a flopsy mopsy tangle at the top of its trellis. One surviving morning glory puts out a unique striated flower every other day or so.

Pavonia hastata. A single pale pavonia flower struggles to open. I prefer it to its cousin the solid pink, Texas native, rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala.

In the winter vegetable garden, the parsnips are flowering. The leaves are only just beginning to fall from the pecans today so the newly planted lettuce and other salad greens are struggling in the shade and getting leggy or eaten by pill bugs. The jalapeno is flowering and has peppers on it. One self-sown tomatillo is flowering but the other two which sprouted died so can’t cross-pollinate and set fruit.

Complete List for November

The list of all plants flowering today, November 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.

• Ajania pacifica (2009)
• Antigonon leptopus (2009)
• Asclepias curassavica (2009)
• Aster ericoides (2009)
• basil (2009)
• Callisia repens (2009)
• Calytocarpus vialis (2009) hated horseherb
• Commelina communis (2009)
• Commelinantia anomala (2009)
• Cosmos sulphureus (2009)
• Datura inoxia (2009)
• Dolichos lablab (2009)
• Duranta erecta (2009): overwintered and bloomed all summer
• Eupatorium wrightii (2009): fading
• Galphimia gracilis (2009)
• henbit (2009)
• Ipomoea quamoclit (2009)
• jalapeno (2009)
• Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba’ (2009): one flower; leaves browning–not changing color
• Lavandula heterophylla ‘Goodwin Creek’ (2009)
• Lobularia maritima ‘Tiny Tim’ (2009) survived the summer
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
• Mirabilis jalapa pink (2009)
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2009): fading
• Oxalis crassipis (2009)
• Oxalis triangularis, purple (2009)
• parsnips (2009)
• Pavonia hastata (2009)
• Podranea ricasoliana (2009)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2009)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2009)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (2009): so heavy with new growth and flowers that it’s sprawling
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2009): both plants
• rose ‘Prosperity’ (2009)
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2009)
• rosemary (2009)
• Setcreasea (2009) both purple and green
• Solanum jasminoides (2009)
• tomatillo (2009)
• Tagetes lucida (2009)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba (2009)
• Zexmenia hispida (2009)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

October 2009

What a difference rain makes! What a difference a year makes!

Last year, central Texas was a year into our drought and the season which usually brings a sense of renewal and hope to the garden had failed us. I was too discouraged to even write a post for GBBD last October. This year it began raining about a month ago and hasn’t let up. Yesterday was our first sunny day in almost a week. The garden is transformed. Everything that’s survived the drought and heat of summer is working overtime to put out new growth and flowers. The weeds (and mosquitoes) reign supreme. I don’t care about the weeds; I’d rather weed than water.

Unfortunately, many flowers are not camera-ready. The rain has left them a sodden, mud-spattered mess like the datura above (a passalong from Diana @ Sharing Nature’s Garden). This is why this post contains no rose photos, even though every rose except for ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ is blooming today.

New for October

Bulbine started blooming this month and this is the first time I’ve had it in my garden. I received it as a passalong plant from VBDB @ Playin’ Outside during this spring’s Austin garden blogger get-together. I’ve always wanted it and I’m so glad to have it.

Another plant new to my garden is Mexican mint marigold, a passalong from Annie @ The Transplantable Rose. She gave it to me as a substitute for French tarragon which won’t grow in Texas.

Garlic chives is an old autumn faithful. It was here when I came and I bet it will still grow here when I’m gone. I like it best when it complements the oxblood lilies but most years it comes into bloom after they have finished. The garlic chives is just a little beyond its peak right now and beginning to go to seed. Like most alliums, it will take over the garden if you let it.

Fall Rebloom

Pam @ Digging gave me this zexmenia two years ago. The day I picked it up turned suddenly warm. I put it in the ground immediately but it looked like it had died straight off. It hasn’t had an easy time of it. I cut it back hard in August. Now it’s about four times bigger than it was a month ago and covered in flowers.

Lindheimer senna self-sowed all over the meadow and began blooming with the first rains in the latter part of September. It’s mostly gone to seed now but one flower held out for GBBD.

I was happy to see that the Dahlberg daisy I bought this spring survived and began flowering again. Jenny said it another profuse self-sower and I’m happy to report many new seedlings sprouting. I’m digging them up and tucking them in all over the garden. I love its clear yellow flowers and delicate foliage.

Summer Survivors

Not only the Port St. John’s creeper but every vine I grow has taken off running with all this rain. The morning glories, which I thought had died, came back from their roots. The potato vine, is conveniently covering the chain link fence next to the driveway.

Nothing attracts bees to my garden like coral vine. It struggled through this dry summer without any supplemental water but revived with the rains. It is currently trying to eat my husband’s car.

Once you grow cypress vine you will always have it. Every time it rains, more will sprout. In the rainy summer of 2007, it smothered my front yard. This year I kept transplanting self-sown seedlings next to my sweet pea trellis and now they are all blooming. Cypress vines is supposed to attract hummingbirds but I haven’t seen any yet. The little blue flowers behind it are the duranta–which has survived both winter and summer and never stopped blooming.

With all this rain and damp mulch, a variety of mushrooms continue to spring up. Although not technically a flower, I couldn’t resist including this one.

October 15, 2009

The list of all plants flowering today, October 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.

• Abelia grandiflora (2007, 2009)
• Antigonon leptopus (2007, 2009)
• Allium tuberosum (2009): starting to go to seed
• Asclepias curassavica (2007, 2009)
• Bulbine frutescens (2009)
• Calytocarpus vialis (2009)
• Commelina communis (2009)
• Datura inoxia (2009)
• Duranta erecta (2007, 2009): overwintered and bloomed all summer
• Eupatorium wrightii (2007, 2009): just starting to bloom
• Hibiscus syriacus (2009)
• Hippeastrum x johnsonii (2009)
• Ipomoea quamoclit (2009)
• Ipomoea tricolor ‘Flying Saucers’ (2009)
• Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba’ (2009): full bloom two weeks ago; now almost all faded
• Lobularia maritima ‘Tiny Tim’ (2009) survived the summer
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
• Mirabilis jalapa pink (2009)
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2007, 2009): full bloom
• Oxalis crassipis
• Oxalis drummondii (2009)
• Oxalis triangularis, white (2009)
• Pavonia hastata (2009)
• Plumbago auriculata (2009)
• Podranea ricasoliana (2009)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2009)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (2009): so heavy with new growth and flowers that it’s sprawling
• rose ‘Mermaid’ (2009)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2009): both plants
• rose ‘Prosperity’ (2009)
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2009)
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ (2009)
• rosemary (2009)
• Ruellia (passalong) (2009)
• Ruellia viney type but not woody type (2009)
• Senna lindheimeriana (2009): full bloom three weeks ago; now almost all faded
• Solanum jasminoides (2009)
• Tagetes lucida (2009)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba (2009)
• Zexmenia hispida (2009)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

September 2009

It rained. And rained, and rained, and rained. Between Thursday (9/10) and Sunday (9/12), Zanthan Gardens received over 7 inches of rain. We didn’t get much during the day on Friday (9/11) when it seemed to rain all around Austin but not in the center. But finally it began raining in the early evening and rained on and off all night. Then Saturday between 2:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon it suddenly poured and we got 2.6 inches in just that hour.

The skies remain gray and gloomy, the temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Summer’s grip is broken. Like a woman giving birth, we quickly forget the pain of delivery as we embrace this new life.

So much has died over the summer that my usually floriferous September has very few different kinds of flowers. It’s mostly the bulbs that stay dormant during the heat and only peek out after a rain. I’m starting to think this is the only kind of sensible plant to grow in Austin’s summer.

The rain brought out the rainlilies. I have four kinds, now: two pinks and two whites.

Zephyranthes ‘Labuffarosea’, a slightly smaller and paler pink rainlily. A passalong from Annieinaustin @ The Transplantable Rose

This thick-stemmed and thick-petaled white rainlily grows wild in my yard.

This small and more delicate white rainlily is a self-sown newcomer. It opened yesterday and is already beginning to curl its petals and fade today.

The Podranea ricasoliana is a rampant vine which smothers everything in its path–but it’s hard to find fault with it when it’s in flower.

Especially when the flowers look like this.

Transitioning from the pinks side of the yard to the red side of the yard is the pale pavonia.

But there is only one reason to visit my garden in September–oxblood lilies.

And more oxblood lilies.

And more oxblood lilies. I couldn’t be bothered to do anything else today but lie around looking at them.

Complete List for September

The list of all plants flowering today, September 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens. You can compare with GBBD September 2007 which was Austin’s unusually cool and rainy summer. I didn’t do a GBBD post in September 2008 because I was busy with work and the garden had already suffered the effects of the drought, even a year ago.

• Duranta erecta
• Hesperaloe parviflora
• Hibiscus syriacus
• Lindheimer senna
• Malvaviscus arboreus
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’
• Oxalis (purple)
• Pavonia hastata
• Plumbago auriculata
• Podranea ricasoliana
• Rhodophialia bifida
• Ruellia, the woody and the viney kind but not the passalong
• rose ‘Ducher’
• Tradescantia pallida/Setcreasia (purple heart) both colors
• water lily
• widow’s tears/true dayflower–some type of commelina
• Zephyrathes grandiflora
• Zephyranthes ‘Labuffarosea’
• Zephyranthes (tiny white)
• Zephyranthes (large white)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

August 15, 2009: Just Add Water

Now at day 56 of triple digit temperatures in the hottest summer ever recorded in Austin, I didn’t think I’d have anything to post for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. The yard (no point in calling it a garden at the moment) is mostly dead grass and dirt. For last month’s GBBD, I actually took notes and photos and then didn’t have the energy or desire to write up the post. But here at Zanthan Gardens, we were one of the lucky few in Austin to be a beneficiary of an inch of rain on Wednesday August 12th.

In response, today, the ‘Labuffarosea’ rainlilies that Annie @ The Transplantable Rose gave me bloomed.

I’m taking my cue from the summer bulbs. I’m going to hunker down until the rain and then I’ll be back blooming.

Complete List for August

The list of all plants flowering today, August 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.

• Antigonon leptopus (2007) (2008) (2009)
• Duranta erecta (overwintered) (2207) (2008) (2009)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2008) (2009)
• Hibiscus syriacus (2007) (2008) (2009)
• Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba’ (2007) (2009)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2007) (2008) (2009)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2009)
• Opuntia (2009)
• Plumbago auriculata (2007) (2008) (2009)
• Proboscidea louisianica, Devil’s Claw (2009)
• Ruellia wild woody type (2007) (2008) (2009)
• waterlily ‘Helvola’ (2008) (2009)
• Zephyranthes ‘Labuffarosea’ (2009)

It’s interesting looking at my notes from last August–the first year of this beyond critical drought. The duranta and the rose of Sharon were surprising me with their toughness then too. The red yucca and turk’s cap had flowers but were worn and ratty looking. The nierembergia, the devil’s claw, and the cactus are new this year but toughing out the heat with supplemental water (well, I don’t water the cactus but it’s blooming anyway–in fact, better this year than it ever has.)

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

June 15, 2009

The good news this June is that Austin got rain last Thursday. Almost 2 inches of rain fell at Zanthan Gardens. Other Austinites were not as lucky and had to contend with hail, power outages, broken windows, and funnel clouds. The bad news is that Austin is already experiencing 100°F temperatures. To put it in perspective, we are almost 15 degrees hotter than Las Vegas. Back in the 20th Century (“I remember…” she said, waving her cane in his face), June was a fairly pleasant month in Austin. We’d get lots of rainfall (June was our third wettest month.) Temperatures typically didn’t start soaring into the 100s until late July or August. Then we’d have only six to eight weeks of misery to get through until the hurricanes brought rain just as school started.

Apparently the new norm for the 21s Century is to start being miserable around Mother’s Day and continue until Halloween.

This photo is misleading. Taken a couple of days after the rain, what’s left of the lawn has perked up. (There is no lawn in the front yard anymore–just bare dirt until I can do something with it.) Everything looks refreshingly green. The whole reality is that it’s 100°F and feels like a jungle. You daren’t stand in the sun. The only a spot of color is from the small clumps sunflowers and purple coneflowers at the fence. In the center of the picture is section of the yard I’m filling with the 12 cubic yards of dirt I bought last week. It will be a terrace to connect the back porch with the garden house.

New for June

Every year when the spring flowers die down I think it would be nice to have something to extend the season. If we have a normal rainy June (like 2007), then it’s wonderful. But if we have a hot, dry June (like 2006, 2008, 2009), then I find it’s far more trouble than it’s worth during the season when I’m busy cleaning up the spring garden and feeding, cutting back, and mulching the shrubs and trees.

Zinnias

This year I tried zinnias again. I bought two packets of seed: a red and white striped one from Select Seeds, ‘Peppermint Stick’ and a pure white one from Renee’s Gardens, ‘Polar Bear’. The ‘Polar Bear’ gets only morning sun, looks healthier, but hasn’t bloomed yet. The ‘Peppermint Stick’ is in a less established bed (that means the dirt isn’t as good), gets full sun, and has put out two flowers. The first was red and white like a peppermint stick.

This is the second one. I hate this color.

Zinnia elegans ‘Peppermint Stick’

Sunflowers

I had better luck with the sunflowers. I bought two packets from Renee’s Gardens, ‘Van Gogh’ and ‘Chocolate Cherry’. I planted them both in my seed starting bed on April 9, 2009. I was able to transplant the ‘Van Gogh’ out and they did really well. The ‘Chocolate Cherry’ were smaller seeds and smaller plants. They got leggy in the shade before I could get them transplanted. They didn’t survive my trip to San Francisco in the last week of May.

Marigolds

Carol at May Dreams Gardens sent me a packet of white marigolds, ‘Kilimanjaro’. All of the seeds sprouted but half of them damped off. A dozen survived for me to transplant then half of those were felled by pillbugs. I have five plants left and I’m still waiting anxiously for them to flower.

#Fail

I also tried out Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Psyche White’ and ‘Rose Bon Bon’. I planted both in the meadow where they were smothered by the spring plants and didn’t get enough water when they were young. I’m going to have to seed these earlier and transplant them, or start them in their own bed. Or try growing them in the fall. Ditto the Nigella hispanica ‘Bridal Veil’. Actually I planted those in the seed bed in February and they didn’t do much. Same with the Amaranthus caudatus planted in March and the Thunbergia alata which never sprouted at all. The Rudbeckia hirta ‘Irish Eyes’ are struggling and haven’t flowered yet.

Plumbago

My favorite summer perennial is plumbago because of it’s cool pale blue flowers. I came close to losing a plant I’ve had since the mid-1990s but, with some extra attention, it seems to be making a comeback and began blooming around the first of June.

Rebloom

I’ve been shearing back the shrubby plants; the coral bean and the Zexmenia are responding with new growth and flowers. I’ve also pruned and fed the roses, the crape myrtles, the vitex, the white mistflower, and the butterfly bush.

Going Strong

Some plants do take the heat and don’t require a lot of water. The oleander is still covered in flowers. The purple coneflowers that Pam/Digging passed along to me are doing much better this second year than last. The coral vine (Antigonon leptopus) is a carefree plant that loves this weather and the bees love it.

Finally there’s this little beauty, which Annie in Austin has tentatively identified as a South African foxglove.

The leaves are gray-blue, furry (like a datura), and the flowers have spots (rather than stripes). Does anyone else have a thought?

Just Let Me Die

The list below might look long but there are a lot of hangers on from spring. The merciful thing to do would be just pull them out. I deadheaded and watered a bluebonnet just to see if I could get it to bloom until today, which it did. It looks pitiful. The few remaining larkspur are just dried flowers in the landscape. I’ve been cutting back the Jerusalem sage which is flopping and wilts every day in the heat. So do the datura and brugmansia. The latter, which Annie in Austin gave me, is blooming but the flowers blast…they don’t have the strength to unfurl. The sweet alyssum, which I sheared back, makes a nice little clump but it’s just barely flowering. I was amazed to see some covered with flowers at The Natural Gardener. Not only do they have drip hoses, excellent soil, and lots of mulch, but someone was watering them with a spray wand. Someone else told me that they water every day and foliar feed the plants once a week.

If that’s what you have to do to get flowers to bloom profusely in 100° heat, well, count me out.

Complete List for June 2009

The list of all plants flowering today, June 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.

• Abelia grandiflora (2009)
• Antigonon leptopus (2009)
• Asclepias curassavica (fading) (2009)
• Brugmansia (from Annie in Austin, 2 flowers both blasting) (2009)
• Consolida ambigua (2009)
• Cosmos sulphureus (2009)
• Crinum bulbispermum (2009)
• Duranta erecta (overwintered) (2009)
• Echinacea purpurea (from Pam/Digging) (2008, 2009)
• Erythrina herbacea (2009)
• Helianthus annuus ‘Van Gogh’ (2009)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2009)
• Hibiscus syriacus (2009)
• Ipomoea tricolor’Flying Saucers’ (2009)
• Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Mother of Thousands) (2009)
• Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba’ (2009)
• Lantana montevidensis (2009)
• Lavandula heterophyla ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ (2009)
• Lobularia maritima (2009) ‘Tiny Tim’
• Lupinus texensis (fading) (2009)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
• Meyer lemon (rebloom) (2009)
• Mirabilis jalapa pink (fading) (2009)
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2009)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2009)
• Phlomis lanata (fading) (2009)
• Plumbago auriculata (2009)
• Proboscidea louisianica (2009)
• Retama (2009)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2009)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (2009)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2009)
• rosemary (2009)
• Rudbeckia hirta (2009)
• Ruellia (overwintered) (2009)
• Ruellia wild woody type (2009)
• Sedum album (2009)
• Setcresea (both purple and green) (2009)
• Zephyranthes grandiflora (2009)
• Zephyranthes (white) (2009)
• Zexmenia hispida (from Pam/Digging) (2009)
• Zinnia elegans ‘Peppermint Stick’ (2009)